Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 95326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Cavell got a fire going, the spring night chilly.
“How far is this shelter from my clan’s keep?” Elsie asked and dropped her hand down on husband’s shoulder for support while she lowered herself to sit on the ground.
She cried out in fright when his hand clamped around her wrist and yanked her down into his lap. “I am sorry. I thought it was permissible to touch you since we have already been intimate.”
“It is unwise to unexpectedly touch a Gallowglass warrior, especially from behind,” he warned, his reaction having been instinctive, but it was that she did not hesitate to touch him as if it was something familiar for her to do that so shocked him. And having her nestled in his lap, her backside pressed snug against his manhood, stirred more than memories of their intimate night together. It stirred his passion for her, and unwisely and selfishly he kept her there.
“That was rather foolish of me,” she said softly, her fright dissipating and replaced by the enjoyment of his closeness and the way, to her surprise and pleasure, it aroused her. She wondered if it was her imagination or her own desire that made her think she felt him hard against her backside. Or did he desire her as she did him?
She chased the thought away, fearful of the next time they coupled. There would be at least a modicum of light and he would see that her thin body was lacking and turn away from her in disgust and it would pain her.
Cavell shifted her to adjust her more comfortably in his arms and to remove her all too alluring backside off his growing shaft and wondered over the sudden sadness he saw in her lovely eyes.
He ran his finger gently beneath her eyes. “Why the sadness in your eyes?”
It troubled him to see it there. He preferred seeing her smile.
How did she tell him she would have preferred to remain as she was, enjoying the feel of his rising manhood or how the simple touch of his finger to her face was magical with the way it flared her body in desperate desire for him? Unfortunately, she did not have the courage to say any of what she felt. What he made her feel. Or was it that she was too fearful he would not find her words welcoming?
Her response could only hint at what she felt. “I wonder how we will fare as husband and wife. I hope well, for I would make a proper and worthy wife if given the chance.”
“I would not make a good husband,” he said, continuing to hold her with no thought of letting her go.
“How about a tolerable one?” she asked quite seriously.
Cavell laughed. “Isn’t it the husband that must tolerate the wife?”
She smiled as she proclaimed the problem solved. “We can tolerate each other.”
Not able to keep from touching her, he ran his finger along her cheek and marveled at her softness. “You deserve more… more than I can give you.”
“But I need you, Cavell. I need you to remain my husband,” she pleaded softly, thinking her clan did need him, but she, herself, needed him much more.
I need you. Her words resonated in his head. If only she needed him, just him. It would make a difference.
He ignored her plea and recalled her question that he had yet to answer. “You asked how far from the shelter to your clan. It is a morning’s ride.”
That he changed the subject was a clear sign that he would no longer talk about their marriage. He could not ignore it for long, but for now she would let it be.
“Then we should waste no time going to speak with my da after spending the night in the shelter.”
“Did you forget I told you that until we find out if your da is truly responsible for sending you and your sisters to the abbey that you will stay away from him?”
“I did not forget. I will not go, but the monk will,” she said with a smile and tugged at the robe she wore.
“Nay, you will not take such a chance,” he ordered, the thought of the problems it could create and the danger it might put her in not to his liking.
“What chance do I take if discovered? I am with my husband, a mighty warrior who no one would dare challenge. Besides, my da is ill and would welcome a visit from a monk.”
It would settle his worry about leaving her alone while he visited with her father, and the robe would provide some protection, but he wasn’t ready to commit to it yet.
“We shall see.”
“At least you do not dismiss it completely,” she said, relieved.
“We will eat, then sleep so we may rise with the dawn and be on our way,” he said, not ready to let her go but knowing it wise.